Report: Only 18 Percent Of Americans Can Drive Manual

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — A new report shows fewer Americans own a car with manual transmission let alone know how to operate one. And there appear to be a number of reasons for it.

The report from U.S. News and World Report show only 18 percent of U.S. drivers know how to operate a stick shift. It says that because of advancements in automatic transmissions and fuel economy, only about 5 percent of vehicles sold in the U.S. today come with a stick shift. That’s down from 25 percent of cars in 1987.

The third pedal is also bad for re-sale value, on average selling for $2,000 less than cars with automatic transmissions.

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It is really hard for those of us who prefer a stick. We are limited to entry level economy cars or sports cars and even some sports cars don’t have an available manual. Even BMW no longer offers a stick in the M5, so much for being the ultimate driving machine.

“The third pedal is also bad for re-sale value, on average selling for $2,000 less than cars with automatic transmissions.” Does this statement take into account that new cars with manual transmissions cost about $2,000 less than automatics?